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171. Intelligence Services and Democracy

Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Intelligence is the collection, processing and dissemination of information according to the needs of a national government. Informed policymaking and decision making require adequate information and reliable analysis. Only if policymakers and decision makers are sufficiently informed about the state of the world and the likely developments, can they be expected to make sound judgments in the areas of internal and external security, national defense and foreign relations.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

172. Armed Control of Civilian Forces in Hungary

Author:
Istvan Szikinger
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
This paper argues that instead of developments toward civilian control over armed forces, there is rather a tendency resulting in a growing role of armed organs in overseeing the life and all kinds of activities of the people and organisations of the civil society in Hungary. Although the country is far from being a military dictatorship, the role of the agencies empowered to use coercive means has been substantially increased.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Hungary

173. Establishing a National Security Council: Lessons for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Author:
John E. Tedstrom
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
There are many precedents for establishing a National Security Council (NSC), but no strict rules to follow. Countries tend to develop their own models based on the pre-existing institutional structure of the government and the specific needs of top officials. In the United States, the NSC has evolved over a 50-year period; different presidents have assigned it different roles and different National Security Advisors have given the position different personalities.
Topic:
Defense Policy and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and Eastern Europe

174. Some Aspects of Defence Sector Development in Lithuania

Author:
Robertas Sapronas
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
During the first half of the 1990s all Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, including the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, were struggling through the difficult process of transition toward a democratic system and market economy. The transformations of the post Cold War era had profound effects on practically every sector of the respective societies, which had to find their new role and place in the new world.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Cold War, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia

175. Criteria for Success of Failure in Security Sector Reform: The Case of Latvia

Author:
Janis Arved Trapans
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Since 1991 Latvia no longer has been in the Soviet world and is intent on returning to the Western community of nations--politically, economically, and socially. Politically, Latvia has restored a democratic, parliamentary system of government. Economically, it is bringing back a free market system. Socially, it wants to have what is generally called a “civil society”. All this influences defence reform. When Latvia regained independence and the Soviet Army withdrew, according to a NATO Parliamentary Assembly Report “(All) that was left behind consisted of 26 sunken submarines and ships leaking acid, oil, and phosphorous. On this foundation Latvia began building its armed forces.” The military infrastructure was in ruins and equipment and logistical support were almost non-existent. Latvia had to build everything ab initio and that demanded resources and time. However it did not inherit a large bloc of former Warsaw Pact as the national forces of a newly sovereign state. It did not have to reduce a massive military force structure or restructure redundant defence industries, deprived of domestic markets, as many other transition states have had to do. Latvia's reform problems have been different from those in other Central European countries. In some ways, Latvia was in a less advantageous situation than other transition states, in other ways, in a better one.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Soviet Union, and Latvia

176. Legal Aspects of Security Sector Reform in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Author:
Zoran Pajic
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
The broadening and deepening of the concept of security has focused renewed attention on the appropriate role of the security sector in the political and economic systems of the states. Bloated and poorly regulated militaries are seen as a primary cause of severe distortion in the allocation of national resources between the security and non-security sectors. The negative development impact of a dysfunctional security sector is magnified in countries that have experienced a significant deterioration in their capacity to deliver services and in war-torn societies. In such cases, there is an urgent need to restore physical security, to optimise the use of scarce public resources, and to attract sustained external support for the recovery process.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe and Yugoslavia

177. Postmodern Power and Transnational Policing: Democracy, the Constabulary Ethic and the Response to Global (In)Security

Author:
James Sheptycki
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
This paper argues that democratic control of policing, transnational and otherwise, is problematic in the contemporary period because of the nature of the postmodern power system. It describes the parameters of the policing field and notes that its separate sectors have different ways of being accountable to different sets of interests. Further is describes the transnational policing regime as a global polycentric power system and argues that there is no point from which the policing field could be governed. The paper then describes policing at the 'hard edge of postmodernity' showing what is at stake. The paper advances a normative conception termed the 'constabulary ethic' and argues that this might provide a moral compass for the nascent transnational subculture of policing. The minimum social conditions necessary for the emergence of the constabulary ethic are described and the principles that provides its 'normative glue' are elucidated. The paper ends by citing some practical examples where something like the constabulary ethic has been achieved.
Topic:
Security, Democratization, Globalization, and International Law
Political Geography:
United States

178. Learning From Best Practices of Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector

Author:
Hans Born
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Winston Churchill once labelled the parliament as the workshop of democracy, and it goes without saying that the parliament does play a central role in any democracy, though this role may greatly vary across political systems. While parliaments may range from ornamental to significant governing partners, they have some common characteristics, which include three basic functions that they perform: representing the people, making (or: shaping) laws, and exercising oversight. Parliaments articulate the wishes of the people by drafting new laws and overseeing the proper execution of those policies by the government. In short: the parliament is the mediator between government and the people.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

179. Democratic Oversight of the Security Sector. What Does it Mean?

Author:
Hans Born
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Democracy always implicitly presumes unlimited civilian supremacy over the command of the armed forces – anything short of that defines an incomplete democracy. But what exactly is democratic oversight, and how can we conceptualise it? Generally speaking, we see a state's system of democratic oversight as being a product of its system of government, politics, history and culture. Aditionally, as there are many different cultures and political systems, many different norms and practices of democratic oversight also exist. Consequently, and for better or worse, there is no single, definitive normative model for democratic oversight. At least several models are present, some of which appear to contradict others. Keeping this in mind, the main question of this chapter is 'how can democratic oversight be conceptualised?' The following questions relating to the issue will be addressed:
Topic:
Defense Policy, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

180. On Police Reform in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia

Author:
Budimir Babović
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Apart from the principal question of their content, reforms in general pose a twofold preliminary question: is there a sufficient quantum of willingness to proceed with the reforms and how speedily should they be carried out. A public opinion survey carried out by The Center for Policy Studies (Belgrade) in the period from August 25 to 28, 2001 has demonstrated that only 38 percent of interviewed persons consider the reforms should be quick and thorough, even painful for most citizens. At the same time, 47 percent of those interviewed believe that reforms should be conducted gradually, so they are less painful. The first question left 35 percent of persons without a response or undecided, the second left 30 percent.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia and Serbia